Glancing back, I felt eyes on me, like someone or something was watching. That had been true before—a man with a machete had been waiting, watching me. That should have been enough to keep me from returning to the garden, but what had happened to him, the way the forest had come alive to attack him and protect me, made me feel safe in a situation that was obviously . . . ​ not. The vines closed behind me and I quickly walked up the sloping lawn toward the house.

Before I got up the hill, Mo came strolling across the grass with a big smile plastered on her face. Karter bobbed along behind her.

“Look who came to visit,” Mo said.

“Hey,” I said.

Karter looked me over. “Hey. Uh, what were you doing?”

The question caught me off guard. I looked at my clothes and realized I’d sweated out the pits of my T-shirt and was wearing flowers like other people wore jewelry. “Exploring. But listen, I gotta change real quick. Wanna come in?”

“Yes, he does,” Mo said. She ushered him inside and I ran upstairs. I set the flower bracelet and the calla lily on the bathroom counter and showered. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a semi-clean T-shirt I had in my bag, threw my hair in a yellow headscarf, and went back downstairs to find Karter in the front room, laughing himself to death with Mom and Mo.

Mom wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “She used to take off her shirt and run around the shop like nobody would notice! I’ve never seen a kid who wanted to be naked as much as Briseis.”

I cleared my throat. “Wanna go?” I slipped my arm under Karter’s and pulled him toward the door before my parents said anything else. “We can lose them if we run,” I whispered.

Karter grinned.

“Where are y’all headed off to?” Mo asked as we walked out to the front porch.

A beat-up old truck sat in the driveway. The front bumper was gone and the once-red paint had aged into a patchwork of rust.

“We’re going for a drive,” I said.

“We are?” Karter asked. I gripped his arm. “Oh, right. Yeah. Goin’ for a drive.”

“Okay, well, wear your seat belts,” said Mo. “And keep your phone on so you can check in.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I climbed into the passenger side as Karter slid into the driver’s seat.

Mo made sure that we could see her eyeing the front of the truck. “I got your license plate, Karter.”

Karter looked nervously to me. “Is she serious?”

“Yes.”

“Did I miss something?” he asked. “We were laughing and joking a minute ago.” The entire vehicle rumbled as the engine turned on.